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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Thoughts on the Last Jedi: This contains Spoilers

Okay, so I’m going to write a post below these words and it’s
going to contain spoilers. However, because I am a kind and generous soul, I’m
going to give you a lot of space between this intro and Spoiler land.

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I feel like the saddest girl in sad town.

Luke has always been there in my mind. I loved the movie,
but I wanted Luke to join the league of Badass Old Dudes, you know, with Uncle
Iroh, and Sifu the sword master.

On the other hand, Yoda’s words could have been written just
for me. As in, I needed to hear those words, that failure is a teacher, not an
ending. Mistakes were made, and we have to move on. That’s big stuff, and it’s
big stuff that I needed to hear. But at what cost??? Why do the masters always
go just when they reach enlightenment? It’s like there’s no room in the mortal
realm for such powerful understanding.

Okay, enough of the navel gazing, on to the good stuff:

I love me some using a spacecraft to do things it’s not
supposed to, and that was brilliant. Even more brilliant for the use of sound
in that moment. A+

My favorite image is the moment of Luke standing in front of
the At-Ats.

I loved that they let the droid drive some things.

I appreciated that they gave Luke an opportunity to come
full cycle.

I’m enjoying Kylo Ren’s ascension to darkness.

I’m pleased that Rey is like “I’m not just a badass, but I’m
more of a badass than Luke was at this stage in his training.”

The boy at the end. OMG I NEED HIS STORY, AND I NEED HIM TO
BE OKAY!

I love that Leia got to use some Force Stuff, because Space
Mom is Awesome.

I am completely down with how many women there were with
speaking roles in this movie! Amazing! LOVE IT!

Middle Trilogy movies are always so difficult, but this one
worked as a story. I can sense the next one will destroy me emotionally.

In short: I loved it. I loved it’s message. I loved the
battle scenes. I enjoyed the humor. I LOVED the imagery (cinematography was ON
POINTE!). Will see again, probably in theaters. WOW.

5 comments:

WOW says it all. Loved the light saber tearing in half as a symbol of the force divided; neither side overcoming the other. The true master integrates both light and dark sides of the Force in balance. I can see the story going that direction. Also, wisdom is not an automatic result of correct action but a reward for understanding and correcting our mistakes. Sometimes you have to screw up to learn the lesson.All in all, I was surprised at how many events in this movie brought tears to my eyes. I hate Disney as a corporation (one of many I could do without) but have to admit they got it right this time. Hopefully they'll continue to do so.

I need some help from you as I had a really opposite reaction to this film. It baffled me. With the exception of the Rey/Luke/Kylo core, (the galactic force-arranged tea party is the most fascinating thing ive seen in cinema this year) it seemed like a massive wheel spinning, a great much ado about nothing. Help me drfaeriegodmother. You are my only hope. Dave. From work.

Ah, and for the plot elements, it was a great wheel spinning (well a bit of a downward spiral). The place where this movie excelled was in the completion of motifs. This movie was the set up for the next movie. It was the completion of character arcs, the enlightenment of the last Jedi. In short, this movie wasn't supposed to resolve a great deal of plot, only worsen existing situations. It was supposed to cement the position of Rey as the beginings of a legend. It was supposed to cement Kylo's real power (he knows the difference between right and wrong, but he has chosen to rule the galaxy with an iron fist). It was meant to show Poe going from a cocky fly boy to a leader of people. It was supposed to show the resistance being driven to the brink of extinction. This was the dark night of souls.

To be clear, as a stand alone movie, this one would make NO SENSE. It does work as part of a larger whole.

I really loved the salt field imagery, though. It really reminded me of the classic samurai battle on a snow field with all the blood.

I agree with you on all of this. I was always much more about Luke than Han (I still want to be a Jedi), and while I'm sad he had to go, I felt like it was done well, it was his time, and he knows that the Jedi won't end with him. And if he had to go, damn, he went out showing that he was well and truly a Master. And he made Kylo Ren look like such a little punk, which was awesome. ^_^

And yes, Yoda's words about failure as the best teacher hit home for me too. I focus so, so much on the things that haven't worked for me. But it took having it spelled out like that to show me a better way to look at it.